The other day I was walking down a snowy road (this very road) and praying and complaining to the Lord about some things that were not going according to my specifications. Actually, I was mostly complaining, out loud, while I was slipping and sliding on this road in the dark. I was experiencing some frustration over a matter or two, and I was out there letting the Lord know what was going on. After spewing for quite some time, I wound down by questioning, "Well, Lord, what do you want me to do!!!" I went into quiet mode to listen. It didn't take long--like about three steps--and I heard clearly in my spirit: "Shut up, build yourself up, and prepare for the glory." I didn't have anything to say after that, and I continued on my walk, meditating on the crisp word that I had heard.

"Shut up."
    Most of our monologue time spent with the Lord is usually spent informing Him of things of which He is already aware, or, we are griping and complaining about things that should not even be our focus. If there is an obstacle in the road, it does no good to sit there and just complain about the obstacle being there. Evaluate the situation, lay it before the Lord, listen, and learn of the way to overcome the obstacle. Here's an example of what I mean.
    One day I was having trouble getting backgrounds to come through on a certain web site. I tried and tried to no avail. Becky listened absently as I griped and complained that I could not get it to work. Actually, this went on off and on for weeks . I emailed a friend who gave me a word of wisdom on how to do it. I tried it and I accidently made one page work but not some others. I laid the matter aside. About two weeks later I was laying in bed in that twilight zone of just waking up in the morning. It came to mind about the instructions that was in my email inbox, and that if I didn't retrieve them, they would be lost, since web-based email services eventually clear out the oldest emails. So I got up, found the instructions, did what they said, and presto! The backgrounds came up on the web pages. So, out of my "shut up" I obtained a "background up."
    God speaks to people constantly in many different ways. It is up to us to shut up and listen, and hear His instruction. With the background incident, during the interim time between attempts, through another web site I was guided to do some html writing (writing computer language). With this little tutorial I was made more familiar with writing html which prepared me to make the necessary changes in the html so the backgrounds would show up on the pages. Was it just an accident that I had that little tutorial? I don't think so. This is how God helps us constantly, if we will just shut up and pay attention.
    Some would say that God does not concern Himself with such trivial matters. Would any good parent concern themself with such a trivial matter with their child? I think so. Jesus said every hair is numbered, and that the Father knows when a sparrow falls to the ground (Matthew  10.29-31). God is concerned with our trivialities.

"Build yourself up."
    Becky is in the process of building herself up from a weakened condition of inactivity due to symptoms that have been labelled "Parkinson's Disease." This requires activity. Passivity is the opposite of and enemy of activity. Passivity will tear you down. Activity will build you up. There are basically three activities that I know of by which you can build yourself up spiritually, and when you are strengthened spiritually, then you will have the will power and motivation to build yourself up physically, and in other ways, which every believer should be doing.
    First, stay in the Word. God's Word, the Bible, is the basis of all strength. The Word is life to our spirit man, our inner man, just like the food we eat becomes life in our body. Feeding on and "chewing on" or meditating the Word provides the spiritual nutrients and fiber and building blocks that our spirit man needs to be built up and strong.
    Second, pray in the Spirit. This carries two meanings.
    The first is to pray using your tongues prayer/worship language that comes with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So much of the time (most of the time) we don't know how to pray for a situation. The Bible tells us in Romans 8 that the Spirit knows how we need to pray, so as we give expression to the Spirit groaning within us, we are able to express the will of God in prayer. In 1 Corinthians 14 we are told that through our tongues language we are speaking to God for His understanding even though we don't understand what we are saying ourselves. We are told that our tongues language works to "edify" us or to build ourselves up strong in our inner man.
    The second meaning is to be in the spirit of prayer that includes praying in your known language and walking in prayer throughout the whole day. The apostle Paul wrote out what he prayed for the Ephesians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and others. He was praying with understanding in the Spirit, following the leadership of the Spirit. This was his daily lifestyle. That is the key to successful prayer--following the leadership of the Spirit, who always moves in harmony with the written Word, to bring about benefit to others. Thus Paul has eternally compounding fruit in his account.
    Third, give out what you've got. Jesus told the parable in Matthew 25 about the servants who were entrusted with five talents, two talents, and one talent. The object lesson of the story was that if you invest what you have, more will be given to you. If you don't invest what you have, you will digress, losing what you have with much regret. The kingdom of God operates by continual growth. There is constant movement and activity in the kingdom. The Bible expresses that we go "from faith to faith" and "from glory to glory" and "from strength to strength" (Romans 1.17; 2 Corinthians 3.18; Psalms 84.7). All of this comes from the activity of communion with God, speaking, listening, and acting on His Word given to you. So the first giving is giving yourself to God your Father, and acting on what He gives you that brings about increase in your life.
    The second giving is giving out to others that which you have. A flowing stream is vibrant with life. A stagnant pond breeds death and decay. Faith-filled fellowship with others is a way to build yourself up--giving out to other believers and being open to them giving into your life. Giving out to the people of the world who do not know the Lord--this will stir the flame of compassion within you, which is a powerful force that will fill and motivate your life with God's strength.
    Jesus summed it up succinctly: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Greater benefits are received if our focus is on giving.
    These are ways to build yourself up.

"Prepare for the glory."
    Jesus manifested His glory with His first miracle of turning the water into wine: "This beginning of miracles did Jesus...and manifested forth his glory" (John 2.11). In John 11 Jesus said if you will believe, you will see the glory of God. That was concerning Lazarus being raised from the dead. In Luke 21 it is stated that Jesus will be coming back to earth in great glory. With these few scriptures we can readily see that the glory basically refers to God showing up and showing out for all to see His power and goodness demonstrated for the blessing and deliverance of those who believe.
    So, how do we prepare for the glory? We can answer this by seeing how Jesus prepared.
    First, Jesus was prepared in the Word. He knew what the Word said. As a Jewish lad, He knew the scriptures front and back, and understood them to be His Father's love letter and life's instruction to Him.
    Next, Jesus was prepared in Spirit. Jesus was anointed with the Spirit upon His life. Not only was He born of the Spirit, but at His baptism, the Spirit came upon Him like a dove to supernaturally empower Him for service. This same type thing happened to the believers on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and on subsequent occasions throughout the book of Acts, the history book of the early church.
    Next, Jesus was prepared by constant communion with Father. Jesus made communion with His heavenly Father the supreme priority in His life. The result was that Jesus knew the person of the Holy Spirit and He was led by Him daily. This is why His ministry was so powerful--He just did what Father led Him to do (John 6.38;  8.28,38). Multitudes were saved, healed, and delivered from all kinds of bondages. Obviously, that's what the Father desires to do.
    The result of this preparation and lifestyle was that the glory of God manifested in Jesus' life and ministry. As we follow Him in this way, we will also see the glory of God manifested. We will see the deliverance of people in every way. It happened in Jesus' life and ministry, it happened in the early church's life and ministry, it has happened down through the ages in the lives of those who have believed for the glory, and it is happening in the lives of people today who believe for and give themselves in preparation to see the glory of God manifested.

Conclusion
    So, a word to the wise: Shut up and quit your complaining, whining, and your pity party. Whatever you are going through, there are some who have it a lot worse. Get your focus off the negatives, and focus on positively building up yourself spiritually, mentally, physically, and in every way. Prepare for the glory. Give yourself to building yourself up to make a positive impact on the lives of others. Walking on this road, you will never slip, and you will realize benefits that will compound throughout eternity.